Alex Mellor provides injury update: Leeds Rhinos forward reveals when he expects to be back and latest on his future

Mellor has not played since Rhinos’ narrow defeat at Castleford Tigers on April 18, which was his sixth game of 2022.

He suffered a sternum injury in the draw with his former club Huddersfield Giants four days earlier and the pain from that led to him being substituted late in the derby clash.

His return next week would be well timed. Leeds will have a vacancy in the second-row for their next two games, at Warrington and Huddersfield Giants seven days later, after James Bentley was suspended for a high tackle in last Friday’s win over Wakefield Trinity.

Mellor, 27, played out of position at centre in the Easter meetings with Giants and Tigers, but is a natural replacement.

His return would allow Rhyse Martin to continue at centre, where he impressed against Trinity.

Second-row is one of Rhinos’ strongest positions. James Donaldson, a regular substitute, started there against Wakefield and Morgan Gannon - who was on the bench last week - and Sam Walters could also step in to replace Bentley.

But Mellor’s return would give coach Rohan Smith another experienced option and the player revealed: “I am not too far off.”

The break for this weekend’s Betfred Challenge Cup final has given Mellor extra time to recover and he confirmed: “My sternum is feeling a bit better every day and, hopefully, I will be back for the Warrington game, or the week after.”

Mellor has managed to maintain fitness during his lay-off and is confident he can slot straight back into the side, once he gets the all-clear.

He is able to do everything in training other than contact and said: “I have been like that for a couple of weeks. I have been running and running around with the ball in my hands so, hopefully, I have stayed pretty sharp.

“It’s just the contact side I’ve not been able to do, but I’ll be able to pick that up pretty quickly when it’s feeling good, then it’s all systems go.”

Rhinos have won three of their four games since Mellor’s injury and he reckons they are set for a much improved second half of the season.

“It has been a long time coming,” he admitted.

“We haven’t been firing on all cylinders, but it finally looks like a corner has been turned.”

The win over Wakefield was Smith’s first as Rhinos coach and Mellor added: “It is like a fresh start with Rohan. He has brought in some philosophies that seem to suit us.

“Training has been really positive and we’ve brought some systems in that seem to be working.

“Hopefully, we can carry that on and keep improving and it will lead to some more wins on the field.”

Mellor, who played under Smith at Bradford Bulls in 2016, is in the third and final season of his Rhinos contract.

He is now free to talk to rival clubs, but said there is “no update” on his future at this stage.

“I am sure it will be sorted in the next couple of weeks,” he predicted.

Matt Prior will be available against Warrington after completing a two-match suspension, but fellow prop Tom Holroyd is likely to be ruled out after being sent-off playing for Bradford Bulls on dual-registration last Saturday.

Jack Walker, Harry Newman, Aidan Sezer, Tom Briscoe and Corey Johnson remain on Rhinos’ injury list.